Pain is an image macro format pairing sad photos of celebrities or fictional characters with the word "pain," styled as a fake Twitter screenshot or a medical pain-scale questionnaire.

Where did Pain come from?

The earliest documented survey-style post appeared on r/2meirl4meirl on September 23, 2019, from Redditor TrifKeske using a Venom Snake image from Metal Gear.

Posts use "pain" as a flat, one-word caption over a sad image, read as sincere relatability or ironic self-pity by viewers.

Users typically overlay a one-word "pain" fake tweet or a medical questionnaire onto an image of a character known for hidden suffering, like Venom Snake or Sad Will Smith.

Is Pain still popular?

Visibility peaked in July and August 2020 on Twitter after the Sad Will Smith edit gained over 10,000 likes, and the template now functions as a classic reaction image.

Pain

2019image macroclassic

Published November 12, 2026

Reddit and Twitter users started placing the word "pain" over melancholy photos of celebrities and fictional characters in 2019, often styled as a fake tweet or a doctor's questionnaire asking "How do you manage pain?" The format, known as Pain / How Do You Manage Pain?, peaked on July 10, 2020, when a Sad Will Smith Photoshop with a fake "pain" tweet gained over 10,000 likes on Twitter.

suppressed emotion memes photoshop memes mental health memes self deprecating memes exploitable templates

Overview

Posts in this family pair a glum photograph with the word "pain" shown as a fake Twitter screenshot, a hospital pain-scale form, or a flat text overlay 6. Recurring subjects include Venom Snake from Metal Gear 1, ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith 5, and the Sad Will Smith paparazzi photo 8. The extended line "Pain. Just Lots Of Pain. Smiling Through It All." became its own tagline through a January 2020 Twitter thread 3.

Templates split into two shapes. One overlays a fake "pain" tweet onto an image, as if the photo subject had posted it. The other borrows a medical pain survey layout, filling every response with "A lot" or "All the time." Both rely on the gap between a sad picture and a flat, resigned one-word confession, read either as sincere relatability or ironic self-pity.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Reddit (origin) / Twitter (viral spread)

Date

2019

Redditor TrifKeske, posting to r/2meirl4meirl on September 23, 2019, uploaded the earliest confirmed survey-style post, pairing a Venom Snake image with a "How do you manage pain?" questionnaire overlay; the post gained 334 upvotes over six months 1. Related "pain" overlay images date back to 2017, though no single first author has been confirmed 6.

How It Spread

Attention for Pain memes grew when Redditor BigShaggyus posted another questionnaire version to r/dankmemes on October 2, 2019, gathering over 31,700 upvotes 2. On January 29, 2020, @ultra15151 tweeted a thread using the "Pain. Just Lots Of Pain. Smiling Through It All." caption, which gained over 7,200 likes and 1,700 retweets 3. iFunny users reposted the thread on February 2, where it gained over 310 likes 4.

New celebrity subjects entered the mix through spring 2020. Redditor ArjunK2111 posted a Stephen A. Smith edit with a fake "pain" tweet to r/dankmemes on April 4, 2020, gathering over 18,100 upvotes 5. A month later, @MightyKeef reposted the same Smith photo without the caption on May 4, gaining over 2,700 likes and 320 retweets 7.

The biggest single moment arrived on July 10, 2020, when @ken_glc tweeted a Sad Will Smith Photoshop with a fake "pain" tweet overlay, gaining over 10,000 likes and 2,000 retweets 8. The Will Smith edit saw further reposts from @waynethegreat51 9 and @VampireSilk 10 through August 2020.

Timeline

2019-09-23

Redditor TrifKeske posts the earliest confirmed "How do you manage pain?" survey template, using a Venom Snake image, to r/2meirl4meirl.

2019-10-02

BigShaggyus posts a survey version to r/dankmemes, gathering over 31,700 upvotes.

2020-01-29

Twitter user @ultra15151 tweets the "Pain. Just Lots Of Pain. Smiling Through It All." caption with over 7,200 likes.

2020-02-02

IFunny users repost the Ultra15151 thread, gaining over 310 likes.

2020-04-04

Redditor ArjunK2111 posts a Stephen A. Smith fake-tweet variant to r/dankmemes with over 18,100 upvotes.

2020-05-04

@MightyKeef reposts the Stephen A. Smith photo without caption, gaining over 2,700 likes.

2020-07-10

@ken_glc tweets the Sad Will Smith Photoshop with a fake "pain" tweet, gaining over 10,000 likes.

2020-08

Further Sad Will Smith reposts from @waynethegreat51 and @VampireSilk circulate through August 2020.

How to Use This Meme

Creators typically overlay a one-word "pain" fake tweet or a medical-survey template onto a photo of a character known for hidden suffering 1. Subject choice matters more than caption variation, with Venom Snake and Sad Will Smith as recurring picks 8. Captions often stay to a single word or the "Smiling Through It All" tag 3.